June 24

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot. — 1 Pet 1:18-19 BSB

O, the unspeakable depths of the goodness and mercy of God! O, the riches of His overflowing grace! When there was no other way for redemption, God sent His only-begotten Son so that through His precious blood, shed as a lamb without blemish or spot, we might be redeemed from the consequences of our sinful lives—and not only from the consequences but also from the power and practice of sin. A personal, experiential knowledge of this redemption places us under a spiritual obligation to walk worthy of our high calling.

How does this work? A view by faith of the bleeding, dying Lamb of God, a real sense of what He suffered in the garden and on the cross to redeem us from hell, will make sin hateful in our eyes and cause us to long for holiness as the soul’s greatest joy. If sin is ever mourned over, hated, confessed, and forsaken—if there are ever ardent desires for conformity to Christ’s image, if there is ever a longing for union and communion with Him—it is found at the foot of His cross. By the cross, and the cross alone, the world is crucified to us, and we to the world. As we experience this, we can say with the Apostle, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).